At UFC 228, welterweight’s front-runner Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley has defended his belt successfully for the fourth time, against the #1 contender from England Darren Till. Woodley made the fight look easy and landed a right hook to drop Till in the second round, forcing ground and pound upon him before sinking in a D’arce choke and getting the job done in style.

“The Chosen One” has been under criticism for his recent performances after claiming the belt from Robbie Lawler, when he knocked out Lawler in explosive fashion. Many people think he fights too safe for it to be entertaining. However, Woodley banks over $500k per title defence so who can blame him? But let’s take a look at Woodley’s title defences and see why he has played it so “safe”.

Tyron Woodley vs Stephen Thompson 1&2

Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson is a striking maestro of the highest order. A legit karate expert who has converted to MMA and become one of the best fighters on the MMA leaders roster. Before he met Woodley had a 13-1 record and was riding a six-fight win streak where he beat the likes of Robert Whittaker, Johnny Hendricks and Rory McDonald.

In both of the fights, it was slow and calculated with both athletes trying to find their way in to strike each other. Made slower by the fact they are both predominately counter strikers. What we saw was two of the UFC’s top strikers in a chess match of striking without the risk of getting clouted on the chin with a knockout counter shot. The first fight was a majority draw (meaning Woodley retained the belt) and the second fight Woodley won the decision.

Tyron Woodley vs Demian Maia

Demian Maia is possibly the greatest submission expert we have seen inside the UFC since Royce Gracie. There is something quite incredible when you watch Maia get his opponent to the ground and wrap himself around them in a boa constrictor fashion and sink in an unforgiving submission to offer his opponent two options, tap or say goodnight. Prior to fighting Woodley, Maia was on a six-fight win streak where he submitted Niel Magny, Carlos Condit and Matt Brown all by rear naked choke.

So in this fight, it was clear Woodley wanted to avoid the ground game by all costs, a fact that somewhat suppressed his striking prowess as takedowns are much easier to secure on a wild swinging opponent. Despite what seemed like four million takedown attempts, Maia was unable to take down the champion and was forced to show his CM Punk style striking skills where Woodley was able to counter effectively and secure another title defence over a top contender.

So Woodley felt like he had a point to prove against Darren Till and he did just that as previously stated. I think we can all appreciate what an outstanding champion Woodley is. Explosive striking, legit wrestling and now a Brazilian Ju-jitsu black belt are all weapons “The Chosen One” has in his arsenal and he reads the fight game better than anyone in the welterweight division.

I think we will see Woodley as the welterweight champion for a long time and am very excited to see him defend the belt and compete for years to come!

In the days leading up to UFC 228, a number of people could be found on social media writing this card off as ‘boring’ and promising that they wouldn’t be watching. Of course there is no real way to tell just how much of that was just social media bravado but if people really did avoid this card, they missed out on one of the most entertaining events of the year so far.

For any of you who think I’m exaggerating, I’d invite you to check out these two finishes, neither of which were awarded performance bonuses…

In the main event, Tyron Woodley will defend his UFC welterweight title against Darren Till. Woodley has seemed to be invincible at the top since winning the belt in dramatic fashion from Robbie Lawler. He will hope this form continues against a heavy hitting and game Darren Till, hungry to live his dream and capture the welterweight strap. Continue reading “Results: UFC 228 – Woodley vs. Till”→

Two years after Tyron Woodley shocked the world and obliterated the former UFC welterweight champion, Robbie Lawler, he has his fourth opportunity to defend his belt against the English brawler Darren Till. In this article, we will take a look at both fighters as we wait patiently for UFC 228.

Another week in the crazy world of MMA, we have had UFC Calgary with a crazy card, Conor Mcgregor has had his court hearing, Bellator adding multiple fighters to their roster and Dana Whites Tuesday Night Contender Series once again lives up to expectations. In this article, we will take a quick look at the main things that happened in mixed martial arts last week.

Considering the way confusion reigns in a number of UFC divisions these days, the welterweight title picture seemed to be a relatively straight forward one.

Reigning champion Tyron Woodley (18-3-1) has held the belt since defeating Robbie Lawler in dramatic fashion back at UFC 201 in November 2016. Since then he’s defended the belt three times, fighting to a majority draw with Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson at UFC 205 before defeating Wonderboy in a somewhat less entertaining contest at UFC 209. Four months later at UFC 214, Woodley defended his title for a third time, earning a unanimous decision win over Demian Maia.

It feels somewhat poetic that Colby “Chaos” Covington will have to return to Brazil for the opportunity to earn the UFC belt that he covets so much.

Covington (13-1-0) will face Rafael Dos Anjos (28-9-0) for the interim welterweight championship at UFC 224 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, as confirmed by MMAFighting. The fight is expected to be made official by the UFC later this week.

30-year-old Covington’s last visit to Brazil was steeped in controversy after “Chaos” lived up to his name, referring to the Brazilian fans as “filthy animals” in his in octagon interview following a unanimous decision win over Demian Maia at UFC Fight Night 119.

“Brazil, you’re a dump!” Covington said during his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. “All you filthy animals suck. I’ve got one thing to say: Tyron Woodley, I’m coming for you. If you don’t answer the front door, I’m going to knock it in and I’m going to take what’s mine, that welterweight belt!”

Speaking to MMAFighting, Covington explained his feelings on fighting for the interim title.

“You can call it an interim, but everyone knows Woodley ain’t coming back when they put that belt around my waist,” Covington said, “and they are paying me like it’s a title fight.”

Since beating Maia in October 2017, Covington has campaigned relentlessly for a shot at reigning champion Woodley. Woodley however, has brushed off all of these attempts to bait him into agreeing to a fight. Incidentally, Woodley is still in recovery following shoulder surgery and isn’t expected to return to action until July.

When asked by MMA fighting if he had any concerns for his safety in Brazil following the controversy surrounding his last visit, Covington didn’t seem concerned.

“UFC has guaranteed my safety. Only security concern is gonna be when they lock RDA up and he has to stand across the cage from 170 pounds of raw American steel and sex appeal.

May 12, I put all the super villains that you nerds read about in your comic books to shame,” Covington added. “I’m taking over the world and RDA sure as hell can’t stop me.”

Former lightweight champion Dos Anjos holds a three fight win streak since moving up to welterweight with wins over Tarrec Saffiedine, Neil Magny and most recently earning a unanimous decision victory over Robbie Lawler in December 2017.

The 33-year-old Brazilian would have been the next in line for a shot at welterweight champion Tyron Woodley but instead, finds himself with one more obstacle to clear in his quest to become a two weight UFC champion.

UFC 224 takes place on May 12th and will be headlined by a womens bantamweight title fight between reigning champion Amanda Nunes and challenger Raquel Pennington. The card also features a battle between middleweight contenders Jacare Souza and Kelvin Gastelum, a strawweight contest between Mackenzie Dern and Amanda Cooper as well as a match up between Brazilian UFC legends Vitor Belfort and Shogun Rua.